The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-11-19
Correspondence Baltimore County Union
SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANY.
A NEW PUZZLE IN SCIENCE.


NEW PUZZLE IN SCIENCE.
On suspending a small cylinder Of ivory over
tabIe by a fibre Of cocoon silk, and bringing Sc
cond cylinder within about a twenty nth OF an
inch oft, the first cylinder Immediately peglns
=. nv. -otata The discoverer, NJ. Thore, regards
tb;s as demonstrating the existence of an unknown
force in the human organism, as he believes that
tba rotation is independent of the nature OF the
cylinders and that light, heat, electricity magne
tism. gravity and air-currents are inadequate u
explain it. The alleged new force has been IN
Is Simply due to the radiations of heat from the
observers body, and finds that bottle of hot
water will rotate the cylinder quite as we'll.
A BIOLOGICAL CURIOSITY.
A black and white cub have been born to
collar bear in the Geological Garden at Dresden,
and are objects of unusual interest from the fact
that the albino is the first ever known among
birds and rodents, and is sometimes met with
among deer, foxes, wolves, etc., and even among
snakes and fishes.
FISHES OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
From list by prof. David S. Jordan, it appears
that the marine fishes of the Pacific coast of Mexico
and Central America, from the Tropc of Cancer
to Panama, comprise 407 known species, of which
II species are also found on the Atlantic coast
About 800 species are now known from the Carib
bean Sea and adjacent shores. This gives about
six per cent. of the whole number known as COM
greater than the similarity of physical conditions
on the two sides of the continent would lead to
expect, and gives no support to the view, based
by D.. Gunther upon an assumption of a much
larger proportion of common species, that the
Isthmus of Panama was submerged at COMPARE
lively recent date.
MORE ABOUT SMOKING.
The observations of DIR. Frantzel, of Berlin,
show that the effects of immoderate smoking are
seldom manifested before the smoker is thirty, but
that the heart troubles most often begin between
the ages of fifty and sixty. Finer-fayored cigars
bring about such troubles more frequently and
more speedily than common ones. It may be re-
garded as certain that the injurious action of
smoking does not depend upon the amount of
nicotine, but upon some as yet unknown cause.
SCIENTIFIC PRIZES.
The Prussian Society for the Promotion of In
dustry has offered two prizes, the competition for
one to close with 1887, and for the other, with
1883. The first prize is about $3.50, for the most
exhaustive critical comparison of all kinds of ex
listing bronze, tombac, and brass alloys. used or
recommended for machinery the second is ,25O,
for the best work on light and heat radiation of
burning gases.
ENERGY's ETERNITY.
Chemists" observes late writer upon the cor
relation of physical forces-a discovery which has
been pronounced the most important of the pres
ent century, "hed that matter was indestructible;
this idea gradually extended to force, and as no
particle of matter could be lost portion of force
existing in nature can disappear. Correlation is a
word proposed by Mr.. w. r. Grove in 1912, and
means mutually convertible He says: Light
heat, one of the others will be the effect Let US
take material affections. Assuming either as the
cause electricity, magnetism, motion, all con-
vertible material affections. Assuming either as
the cause, one of the others will be the efect.'-
Let US take as an, example motion aud heat
Their relations were first established by Mr. Joule
in lS49 and after seven years patient investiga-
ton he found that the amount of mass motion in
body weighing one pound, which had fallen 772
feet, was exactly equal to the molecular motion
which must be added to pound of water in order
to heat it one degree Fahrenheit. If we call the
actual energy of a body weighing one pound which
has fallen one foot foot-pound, then we may
speak of the mechanical equivalent of beat as
being 772 foot-pounds. Tyndall has made the
calculation that our earth, moving with velocity
of 19 miles second, would strike with force of
9S417 O00 00O, O00, 000, 900, tons! We're
this energy all converted into heat it would equal
that produced by the combustion of IA earths of
solid coal. Take note, also, that all energy, not
active in motion, is potential in attraction, from
which it follows that in the attraction we have
energy stored up for future use. The sun is thus
storing up energy. Every minute it raises 3,0OO,-
100000 tons of water to the mean height of the
clouds, 3! miles, and the actual energy set free
when this water falls is equal to 757 900 900 900
horse power"
STORMY SEAS.
The annual average of dangerous storms in diff
ferent seas and CULTS has been tabulated by Mr..
w. Doberck, of the Hong Kong Observatory, as
follows: Arabian Sea, 20; Bay of Bengal, lis;
Southern Indian Ocean, SO; Java Sea, Il; China
Sea, pa; Gulf of Mexico, 355. In the Antilles
the maximum frequency is in August; in the
China Sea, December; Java Sea and Southern
Indian Ocean, February; Bay of Bengal, October;
Arabian Sea, June.
Though electrical storage batteries have attract
ed attention only within the past seven years, the
discovery of the principle is as old as the century,
Gautherot having first noticed in 1901 that plati-
mum or silver wires gave off a current after
being disconnected from voltaic battery with
which they had been used for decomposing saline
water. The first secondary cell of Plante was
made in 1860.
A sanitary engineer suggests the Importance of
building on streets running northwest and south
east, or northeast and southwest. Sunshine in all
rooms at some time in the day can thus be ensured,
with great gain in heaithfuness.
The respectable sum of 100000 year is ex-
pended by the Government of Cuba for chemical
analyses in cases of suspected poisoning and all
kinds of medico-legal investigations. y